kootenay joe wrote:I agree this type of filework is usually associated with pre WWI but how do you know that it was never done after WW II ?
When did I say
never?
kootenay joe wrote:Stan Shaw is a Sheffield cutler capable of this filework and he is still cutlering today at age 90. Go back 70+ years to the end of WW II and surely there were still quite a few "Stan Shaws" ?
Cutlery companies after the end of WWII lost most of the cutlers capable of doing that kind of file work on knives and in that period into the 50's-60's they were struggling to compete in the market. They were not concerned with making such knives which were sold to the affluent market not the utilitarian market. I have looked through lots of post WWII English cutlery company catalogs and own lots of post WWII English knives so this is how I came to that conclusion.
Is Stan Shaw and others capable of doing that kind of file work during that period? Of course but did they do it on a regular basis for a cutlery company? Not in my opinion, like I said maybe for the occasional display or exhibition knife not on a regular basis. Stan Shaw is what is now called a "custom" maker and he works for himself not a company his knives are bought by collectors not really by people that intend to use them. He started his own business because all the Sheffield knife companies were closing down one by one.